Round Table
, Debbie Harry (Blondie) and Peel recording an edition of Round Table in 1979.]]Round Table is a long-running weekly singles review programme broadcast on BBC Radio. For most of its history, the show was broadcast on BBC Radio One in the early evening of every Friday. The format of the programme would typically see two guests discussing the week's new releases with the host DJ. Programme History The Radio Times Genome indicates that Round Table began on Radio One in October 1970 with the host Emperor Rosko http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1970-10-09. It was intially known as "Rosko's Roundtable", and Rosko presented the programme until 17 September 1976 when he left the station http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1976-09-17. Note that John Walters produced the show for a year from 6 October 1972 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1972-10-06 until 28 September 1973 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1973-09-28. The programme was revived in April 1978 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1978-04-21 with Kid Jensen at the helm on Friday evenings It appears that the name of the programme changed from 'Round Table' to 'Roundtable' at this point.. Jensen presented the show until his departure from Radio One in May 1980, whereupon Paul Gambaccini took temporary charge http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1980-05-30. Adrian Love took over hosting duties from 5 September 1980 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1980-09-05 until the end of the year. Mike Read began his first stint as presenter of the show on 2 January 1981 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1981-01-02, remaining in the post until Richard Skinner began a long stretch as host on 9 October 1981 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1981-10-09. John Walters returned to produce Roundtable again from 1 July 1983 - 27 September 1985. The final episode with Skinner presenting was broadcast on 27 September 1985 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1985-09-27 before it took a break from the schedules. In May 1986 the show made a return, rebranded as "Singled Out" with Janice Long installed as host http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1986-05-09. Mike Read returned as the presenter in October 1987 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1987-10-09 and held the position until March 1990 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1990-03-30. The programme continued for a further few months with Richard Skinner back in the chair, although in a new Wednesday evening slot, before the series came to an end on 27 June 1990 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1990-06-27. The following week, from 6 July 1990, "Round Table" was resurrected The programme seems to have reverted to its original two word title at this time. with Mike Read once more hosting http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1990-07-06. Read relinquished the role on 27 September 1991 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1991-09-27, with Jakki Brambles taking over the following week http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1991-10-04. Brambles' stint lasted six months before Round Table came to an end after the episode broadcast on 6 March 1992 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1992-03-06. In May 1994 the format was revived on Radio One with a more humorous approach in the shape of 'Collins and Maconie's Hit Parade' http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1994-05-19. This series ran for three years, ending in June 1997 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1997-06-08. Each series of the 'Hit Parade' typically ran for four months: May - September 1994, April - September 1995, January - April 1996, July - October 1996 and February - June 1997. In April 2003 Round Table returned on BBC 6 Music, presented by Andrew Collins on a Friday evening The return of Round Table is discussed by Collins in this blog for the Guardian newspaper.. Since 2005 the programme has been a fixture of Steve Lamacq's 6 Music programme on Thursday evenings. Links To Peel According to Robert Chapman's Selling the Sixties (p. 274) Peel's first appearance on Round Table as a guest reviewer was alongside Noel Edmonds on an early edition of the programme, and this was "consciously promoted as the meeting of two worlds". But despite a few "controversial observations" from Edmonds, Peel "refused to rise to the bait, finding merit in everything and offering a tolerant counterpoint to the mock provocation which was positively encouraged by Round Table's fomat". In addition, Peel is known to have been a guest reviewer on the following episodes (with presenter stated): *'25 February 1972' Rosko's Round Table: JP mentions in Disc & Music Echo that he and "the admirable Alan Freeman" were guest reviewers on this episodehttps://twitter.com/johnpeel3904/status/1142446774352777216 *'xx-June-1974': Peel mentions in Sounds that he appeared with Gary Glitter and Jim Stafford on Round Table *'xx-xx-1975': Extracts included on John Peel - 1975 Extracts. *'30 June 1978: 'Kid Jensen with Kate Bush https://soundcloud.com/katebushnews/bbc-radio-1-roundtable-kate-as-guest-30th-june-1978. *'27 October 1978': Kid Jensen with Paul Gambaccini http://www.katebushencyclopedia.com/hammer-horror. *'03 November 1978': Paul Gambaccini with Julie Covington http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Record-Mirror/70s/78/Record-Mirror-1978-11-04.pdf. *'16 February 1979': Broadcast from Londonderry. With Feargal Sharkey. *'13 April 1979': Kid Jensen with Debbie Harry. *'12 October 1979': Kid Jensen with Graham Parker and Ellen Foley. *'14 March 1980': Kid Jensen with Pete Townsend and Nick Lowe. *'11 July 1980': Paul Gambaccini with Jeff Beck and Ali Campbell of UB40. *'23 January 1981': Mike Read with Sheena Easton. *'04 June 1982': Richard Skinner with Paul Jones. *'15 October 1982': Richard Skinner with Sheena Easton. *'01 April 1983': Richard Skinner with unknown others. *'09 March 1984': Richard Skinner with DJ Mike Smith, broadcast from Bury St Edmunds http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1984-03-09. *'03 August 1984': Richard Skinner with Sade and Bill Sharpe (Shakatak). *'15 February 1985': Richard Skinner with Morrissey and Howard Jones. *'16 August 1985': Richard Skinner with Princess and Paul King. *'17 May 1991': Mike Read with Peter Hooton of the Farm and Carol Decker of T'Pau. (Please add other appearances, if known) Mentioned In Shows *07 July 1978: Peel asks if any listener heard Bob Geldof on Roundtable that evening, saying that he didn't. *10 July 1978: Peel mentions that Kate Bush liked 'Best Of Both Worlds' by Robert Palmer on last Friday's Roundtable. *19 October 1978: Peel mentions that Chris Squire of the Flying Lizards is on Roundtable the following evening. (In fact, Squire was a member of Yes.) *05 April 1979: Mentions that Elkie Brooks and Tony Blackburn will be appearing on Roundtable with Kid Jensen the following evening. *18 September 1979: JP: "Those of you who were listening to Round Table last weekend with Kid Jerkin will know that Dickie Lee Torpid himself is also getting a little worried about the preponderance of Cockney accents on records these days. Mind you, he was talking at the time about those well-known Londoners The Skids." *12 December 1979: Mentions that Charlie Gillett will be appearing on the programme this week (Friday 14 December), with Lene Lovich as it happened. *08 January 1980: Peel mentions that Joe Strummer will be appearing on the programme on Friday (11th January). *04 February 1980: Peel mentions that Pauline Black of Selecter will be appearing on the next programme on Friday (8th February). *05 February 1980: Another reminder that Pauline Black of Selecter will be appearing on the next programme, with Jake Burns and Annie Nightingale. *23 October 1980: JP: "Isn't it about time they had Dennis Waterman on Roundtable?" *23 November 1983: Peel admits to having taken a liking to Icicle Works' new single "Love Is A Wonderful Colour" despite "slagging it off on Roundtable a few weeks ago". *19 August 1985: Peel mentions doing Round Table last week with Princess and Paul King and is grateful to King for being nice to his daughter Alexandra who is a fan of him, when Peel took her along. JP then plays a record from Relunctant Stereotypes, who Paul King was a former member. *10 May 1988: Peel mentions getting letters from a listener, who wants him to send them to Morrissey. He goes on to say that he doesn't know where Morrissey lives and he has only met him twice, once on Roundtable about 3 or 4 years ago and the other on a motorway service station south of Newcastle about year and a half ago. *03 July 2001: Peel mentions once doing Roundtable with the songwriters Leiber and Stoller. "It was rather disappointing really." *23 July 2002: Mentions the Lieber & Stoller programme again. *Peeling Back The Years: John mentions that he appeared once on Roundtable with Morrissey. External Links *Steve Lamacq's Roundtable on BBC 6Music ;Footnotes Category:Shows